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About this blog: The Raucous Caucus shares the southpaw perspectives of this Boomer on the state of the nation, the world, and, sometimes, other stuff. I enjoy crafting it to keep current, and occasionally to rant on some issue I care about deeply... (More)

About this blog: The Raucous Caucus shares the southpaw perspectives of this Boomer on the state of the nation, the world, and, sometimes, other stuff. I enjoy crafting it to keep current, and occasionally to rant on some issue I care about deeply. My long, strange career trip has included law and management jobs in two Fortune 50 companies, before founding the legal search and staffing firm Cushing Group, Recruiters. I've lectured on negotiation and settlement strategy, and teach graduate courses at Golden Gate University (Adjunct of the Year for a doctoral seminar on business, law and society). Illinois, Texas and California (Inactive) admitted me to law practice; I hold JD and MBA degrees from the University of Illinois, and a BGS from the University of Michigan, with Distinction. There -- Go Blue! Personally, my daughters are a lawyer in NY, and a pre-med student in NM - their lives-and-times often animate these columns. I'm active in animal advocacy matters, having led a citizen team that took Alameda's city animal shelter to a non-profit operation - we saved $600K annually and the lives of some 700 companion animals/year vs. the City's best alternative. I'm delighted with that success. My family has re-homed 144 foster animals over many years; we host four boisterous border collies of our own. Mostly for humane movement efforts, I was nominated for GQ magazine's 2009 Better Men, Better World Award. You may notice that many of my rants relate to critter issues. In addition to the Raucous Caucus blog, I frequently contribute to The BARK magazine, and am a proud Moderator emeritus on the popular news and humor website www.Fark.com. I prefer scotch over imported beer (Hide)

Does Race Still Matter in the 2012 Presidential Sweeps?

Uploaded: Dec 13, 2011

I predict that this week's epistle will cause a bit of a ruckus. I'm not sure, though, since I have been surprised on several occasions already over these twenty-some weeks. Last week, for example, I thought I was mostly just describing an interesting demographic phenomenon, only to be accused of inciting something like class warfare. So, we'll see  I'm guessing this one will elicit a few howls of indignation (real or feigned), and attacks on both process and conclusion. But, well, it's my blog until it ain't, so here goes.

I did not completely anticipate the presidential election of 2008. My guy did win, but the margin of victory was relatively slender nationally, at 54-46%. I thought the contrast in candidate and ticket quality was much greater than that, and I've surmised that Mr. Obama's race may have been an unmentionable factor  a "Bradley Effect" that in this case did not turn the election tide.

Racial animus is tough to track by direct means, however, since it has fallen out of fashion, at least publicly. I've suggested to colleagues my theory that 'cognitive dissonance' aroused by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may have begotten a more accepting populace. Some agree, but others suggest that racial animus continues to simmer just beneath the civilized surface. Few race bigots are sufficiently proud of that heritage to reveal their biases to researchers. So, if it endures, it has been hard to measure.

Enter Seth Davidowitz, an inquisitive, tech-savvy Ph.D. candidate who has published a recent paper in which he claims to have indirectly identified a "significant and robust" racial animus impact on 2008 results, using Google search volume as an indicator (Is there anything Google can't do?). He believes the impact may have cost Mr. Obama three-to-five percentage points in the popular vote, thus narrowing a healthy 58ish-42% margin to half that difference.

In a nutshell, Mr. Davidowitz tracked the Google search volume for the Famous and Fundamental Racial Epithet during the period following the 2004 all-Caucasian election in some two-hundred media markets, comprising 99% of the electorate. He also tried to wean-out use of The Term in other, more neutral contexts, such as rap lyrics searches or among African-Americans. He observes that in those markets where the noted search frequency was high, Mr. Obama did markedly worse than his predecessor Mr. Kerry's totals, as compared to those areas where the search frequency was much lower. For the record, he found that most of West Virginia, upstate New York, rural Illinois and Ohio and parts of the Mississippi delta country ranked highest in effect, whereas largely Hispanic Laredo, TX, Utah and our fair region were among the lowest.

He further dissects his 3-5% drop into components parts, as follows: Democrats who stayed home, non-voters who turned-out for McCain/Palin, and Dems who crossed the voting aisle. He finds that most of the impact was probably about equally divided between the latter two groups.

But what about any countervailing pro-Black vote? Davidowitz found that few white voters fit that description, and that black-voter effects were attenuated by their relatively small numbers and the historical tendency of blacks to vote Democratic, anyway.

The data also revealed a surprisingly high incidence of use of The Term and its plural in Google searches -- roughly as often as words like Hispanic, charity or migraine. The term African American was searched only about three times more often. Davidowitz also notes that, when The Term was used, before and after searches contained a similar racially derogatory tone.

In summary, Davidowitz is satisfied that anonymity  whether in the voting booth or while Googling allows folks to express prejudices with which they wouldn't want to associate their names (regular readers of these Town Square Forums may recognize that phenomenon). He also believes that those prejudices are real, enduring and significant in the Big Picture.

So, if true, what do these data portend for 2012? It's always difficult to gauge an incumbent's likely totals when s/he's the only near-certain candidate  having an actual alternative choice sharpens the focus considerably. It's also true that this year's crop of Republicans is a remarkably Right-leaning and "imperfect" bunch. Their similarly conservative, primary-voting base may not allow them to move toward The Center in the general campaign, and, in any event, they are unlikely to draw the kind of popular fascination that Obama's uniqueness and personal magnetism spiced into 2008.

At the same time, the Lefties are bitterly disappointed by Mr. Obama's failure to deliver on their dreams of a transformative, post-partisan Progressive, so they may come out only grudgingly, or stay home. His move to the middle has already occurred, but his outcomes have been less than anticipated, especially in the domestic arena. It's not at all clear yet whether next year's margin will be within that 3-5% head start that his opponent, likely a white male, will enjoy.

It seems likely that race still matters in America  whether it matters enough to sway the next presidential outcome remains to be determined.

Posted by Other bigots,
a resident of San Ramon,
on Dec 14, 2011 at 11:39 pm

As a country we accomplished a great deal on the racial front.
However, an incidious religious bigotry has reared it's ugly head in recent years. Our founders created a country allowing for all religions, and established there is to be NO religious test to be President. In recent years, we have degenerated. Our founders would be saddened.

Posted by underdog,
a resident of another community,
on Dec 17, 2011 at 4:57 pm

It would seem the last presidential election was more about the catastrophic implosion of the prior administration's poor performance than it was about race. As the tea party added seats by marketing itself as distanced from that inept insider image, recent recalls and referendums suggest those may have been short term gains. Seems voters want something more substantive than intractable posturing and indifference to constituent concerns. Oddly, that still may not bode well for Obama/Biden, even with a weak opposing field. Despite the president's zeal, his successes in foreign affairs, enacting reforms and stablilizing a vast array of problems, voters seem driven by an impatient dimentia for dramatic change. So race and even candidates aside, 2012 may be more about the negatives of which voters do not show up at the polls or which party is more fractionalized or suffers the greatest perception of failure (real or imagined) than the importance of actions, policy or issues. Interesting subject matter, but as the bias of race breaks both ways, my vote says it isn't going to be a deciding factor in the upcoming election.

It is shameful that several of the Republican contenders have alluded to racial sterotypes in their descriptions of Obama and his policies. It remains to be seen whether this appeal to prejudice and bigotry will sway enough voters to matter.

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